diff --git a/.x-sc_prohibit_close b/.x-sc_prohibit_close
index 348200c337..ab14617bd7 100644
--- a/.x-sc_prohibit_close
+++ b/.x-sc_prohibit_close
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+# Non-C files:
 ^docs/.*
+^ChangeLog*
 ^HACKING$
-^src/util/files.c$
+*\.py$
+# Wrapper implementation:
+^src/util/files\.c$
+# Only uses close in documentation comments:
+^src/libvirt\.c$
diff --git a/.x-sc_prohibit_fork_wrappers b/.x-sc_prohibit_fork_wrappers
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7f8fc6cd46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.x-sc_prohibit_fork_wrappers
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+^docs/.*
+^HACKING$
+^src/util/util\.c$
+^tests/testutils\.c$
+# Files that we may want to convert over to virCommand someday...
+^daemon/libvirtd\.c$
+^src/libvirt\.c$
+^src/lxc/lxc_controller\.c$
diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 36463f5470..597ec6112c 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ syntax_check_exceptions = \
   .x-sc_prohibit_asprintf \
   .x-sc_prohibit_close \
   .x-sc_prohibit_empty_lines_at_EOF \
+  .x-sc_prohibit_fork_wrappers \
   .x-sc_prohibit_gethostby \
   .x-sc_prohibit_gethostname \
   .x-sc_prohibit_gettext_noop \
diff --git a/cfg.mk b/cfg.mk
index db6863db7e..2cc6f90d8d 100644
--- a/cfg.mk
+++ b/cfg.mk
@@ -241,13 +241,20 @@ sc_avoid_write:
 
 # Avoid functions that can lead to double-close bugs.
 sc_prohibit_close:
-	@prohibit='\<[f]close *\('					\
+	@prohibit='([^>.]|^)\<[fp]?close *\('				\
 	halt='use VIR_{FORCE_}[F]CLOSE instead of [f]close'		\
 	  $(_sc_search_regexp)
 	@prohibit='\<fdopen *\('					\
 	halt='use VIR_FDOPEN instead of fdopen'				\
 	  $(_sc_search_regexp)
 
+# Prefer virCommand for all child processes.
+# XXX - eventually, we want to enhance this to also prohibit virExec.
+sc_prohibit_fork_wrappers:
+	@prohibit='= *\<(fork|popen|system) *\('			\
+	halt='use virCommand for child processes'			\
+	  $(_sc_search_regexp)
+
 # Similar to the gnulib maint.mk rule for sc_prohibit_strcmp
 # Use STREQLEN or STRPREFIX rather than comparing strncmp == 0, or != 0.
 sc_prohibit_strncmp:
diff --git a/src/datatypes.c b/src/datatypes.c
index 7f2d0c5400..e26e332053 100644
--- a/src/datatypes.c
+++ b/src/datatypes.c
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ virReleaseConnect(virConnectPtr conn) {
     DEBUG("release connection %p", conn);
 
     /* make sure to release the connection lock before we call the
-     * close() callbacks, otherwise we will deadlock if an error
+     * close callbacks, otherwise we will deadlock if an error
      * is raised by any of the callbacks */
     virMutexUnlock(&conn->lock);
 
diff --git a/src/util/files.h b/src/util/files.h
index fe8c00c44b..744ba93f4e 100644
--- a/src/util/files.h
+++ b/src/util/files.h
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 /*
  * files.h: safer file handling
  *
+ * Copyright (C) 2010-2011 RedHat, Inc.
  * Copyright (C) 2010 IBM Corporation
  * Copyright (C) 2010 Stefan Berger
- * Copyright (C) 2010 RedHat, Inc.
  * Copyright (C) 2010 Eric Blake
  *
  * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ int virFclose(FILE **file, bool preserve_errno) ATTRIBUTE_RETURN_CHECK;
 FILE *virFdopen(int *fdptr, const char *mode) ATTRIBUTE_RETURN_CHECK;
 
 /* For use on normal paths; caller must check return value,
-   and failure sets errno per close(). */
+   and failure sets errno per close. */
 # define VIR_CLOSE(FD) virClose(&(FD), false)
 # define VIR_FCLOSE(FILE) virFclose(&(FILE), false)